<nettime> August-September 1998

[Le Monde diplomatique <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>]

                                                    LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE
     _________________________________________________________________

                          Le Monde diplomatique

                             english edition

                          August-September 1998

                       edited by Wendy Kristianasen




    LEADER

  Holy war *

      by Alain Gresh

     The United States invoked self-defence as a justification for its
     retaliatory raids on a pharmaceuticals factory in Sudan and
     "terrorist bases" in Afghanistan. But what we are witnessing is the
     start of a new policy of deterrence - one which unfortunately is
     likely to alienate the peoples of the Muslim world still further.
         http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1998/09/01leader.html

                                        Translated by Wendy Kristianasen


    DOMINATING THE ELECTRONIC ERA

  Towards a new century of American imperialism

      by Herbert I. Schiller

     What will be the shape of the next century? And how will the
     world's two hundred states apportion the various roles? If some
     will have more influence than others, one - the United States - is
     doing everything to use its economic, military and cultural
     strength to maintain its undeniable primacy. In particular, it
     intends, unilaterally and for its sole benefit, to fix the rules of
     the game of the "electronic era" in order to assure itself global
     electronic mastery in the next century.

                                                Original text in English

  The Microsoft stranglehold *

      by Philippe Rivi=E8re

     Microsoft's huge profits are not built on out-of-the-ordinary
     technological expertise but on a mechanism that acts effectively as
     a tax on the world's computer equipment. Manufacturers of
     computers, printers, software etc. need common industrial standards
     in order to ensure the compatibility of equipment. But the giant
     corporation is now coming under increasing criticism.
         http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1998/09/03gates.html

                                                  Translated by Ed Emery


    A REPLY TO ARAB INTELLECTUALS

  Israel-Palestine: a third way *

      by Edward W. Said

     This summer's decision by the Israeli government to accelerate
     settlement of occupied Palestinian territories - and judaise East
     Jerusalem - confirms the failure of the Oslo accords, if
     confirmation were needed. The impasse has revived the debate among
     Arab intellectuals concerning their responsibilities regarding the
     Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many of them - with some rare and
     brave exceptions - support the French writer Roger Garaudy, who was
     convicted earlier this year on charges of holocaust denial, for
     defending an Islam now under siege from the West. Edward Said
     incisively debunks this trend.
         http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1998/09/04said.html

                                                Original text in English


    A SOCIETY SCARRED BY CIVIL WAR

  Mafia threatens Algeria's economy

    by Fay=E7al Karabadji

     Not content with their policy of bloody repression, the military
     who are in control of Algeria are also plundering the country's
     wealth. Privatisations are frequently a way for a
     political-economic mafia to enrich itself; and independent private
     companies trying to set themselves up are subject to threats,
     blackmail and violence. Meanwhile, the public sector is under
     threat from entrepreneurs who would gladly see manufacturing
     industry go to the wall so they can have the rich pickings of
     foreign imports for their private import/export companies. In which
     exports are sadly lacking.

                                         Translated by Malcolm Greenwood


    FROM MISSILE CRISIS TO EU MEMBERSHIP

  Cyprus hostage to Athens-Ankara confrontation

      by Niels Kadritzke

     Together, Greece and Turkey have more tanks than the United
     Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy combined. They devote 4.7% and
     3.8% of their gross domestic product respectively to defence
     (compared with an average 2.2% for the other members of NATO).
     Athens is now planning to spend $24 billion over eight years to
     expand and modernise its arsenal, Ankara $31 billion over ten
     years. This escalation illustrates the scope of the "missile
     crisis" that began with the announcement of the Greek Cypriots'
     purchase of Russian S-300 ground-to-air missiles.

                                         Translated by Malcolm Greenwood


  Turkish Cypriots dream of Europe

      by Niels Kadritzke

     Northern Cyprus is to all intents and purposes a Turkish
     protectorate: people feel at protected, but also denied the freedom
     to make their own decisions. The Turkish Cypriots' minority
     position and the risk of being swallowed up by Turkey has
     strengthened their sense of identity. Nowhere else in Europe will
     you find such convinced - or desperate - Europeans.

  Forty years of confrontation *
         http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1998/09/08cyprus.html

                                         Translated by Malcolm Greenwood


    US PRESS OBSESSED WITH LOCAL ISSUES

  Myopic and cheapskate journalism

      by Serge Halimi

     Already under fire for its obsessive treatment of President
     Clinton's alleged sexual improprieties, American journalism has
     recently been shaken by a number of scandals which cast doubt on
     the professionalism of some of the country's major news media: CNN,
     NBC, Time, the Boston Globe, etc. Invented stories, plagiarism and
     testimonies obtained under pressure come high on the list. However,
     what is fundamentally at issue is the whole money-making ethos of
     today's news journalism. Journalism which succeeds because it is
     easier and more profitable, which entertains rather than informs,
     and which ignores the international dimension of news.

                                                  Translated by Ed Emery


    SETBACK FOR US NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION POLICY

  Asia after the bomb

      by Paul-Marie de La Gorce

     Japan and the United States responded initially to the nuclear
     tests by India and Pakistan by imposing sanctions - something which
     Europe, although condemning the tests, was unwilling to do. In
     fact, both the bombs and the reactions to them are symptomatic of
     the changes in the balance of power in Asia. The leaders of the
     international community, starting with the United States, can no
     longer afford to ignore Asia's three major powers, Japan, China and
     India.

                                                Translated by Lorna Dale


    BETWEEN "HISTORIC COMPROMISE" AND TERRORISM

  Reviewing the experience of Italy in the 1970s *

      by Toni Negri

     Toni Negri was one of the historic leadership of the Italian
     revolutionary group Potere Operaio and is currently serving a
     prison sentence in Rebibbia prison, Rome. Negri gave himself up on
     1 July 1997 after 14 years' exile in Paris in a bid to close a
     chapter in his own personal "judicial history" and that of other
     far-left militants still in exile. Now waiting for a general
     remission (indulto) from the Italian parliament which has not as
     yet materialised, he was allowed to work on day-release at the end
     of July. In the following article, he recalls the political
     experience of the 1970s in Italy.
          http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1998/09/11negri.html

                                                  Translated by Ed Emery


    FROM PLO TO STATE

  The Palestinians dream on

      by Alain Gresh

     At the end of August, uncertainty still reigned over the progress
     of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Binyamin Netanyahu made a
     stream of contradictory declarations while forging ahead with
     settlements. Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat desperately needs an
     agreement to bolster his authority, thus hoping to consolidate a
     state structure that the Palestinian leadership has built up over
     30 years through the PLO, in response to the Palestinians' strong
     desire for a unifying framework within which to express their
     aspirations. But will this strategy lead to a viable state?
=20
                                        Translated by Wendy Kristianasen


    STERN TEST FOR CAPITALISM

  Will the world catch Asian flu?

      By Francois Chesnais

     Three weeks ago analysts were still proclaiming that, since Russia
     only represents 1% of world trade, it could only affect the global
     economic situation marginally. This approach discounted the extreme
     vulnerability of the financial markets and the "unrealistic level"
     of share prices that Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal
     Reserve Bank, warned of in July. It also discounted the extent to
     which politics and economics are intermeshed. The collapse of the
     Russian financial system has battered stock exchanges around the
     world and brought the global economy closer to recession. Yet the
     EU's political leaders still claim that the crisis will not affect
     Europe...
=20

     (*) Star-marked articles are available to every reader. Other
     articles are available to paid subscribers only.

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